pdxten

jackowayed, joshuarr-- thanks for the question.

what i mean by "investment theory" is that there are specific requirements angels/VCs have when evaluating startups for fundability, that are indicators of the entrepreneur's ability to execute a high-growth concept.

we are extracting those characteristics/indicators and building that into the learning model for Portland Ten-- so that the entrepreneurs who work with us understand those concepts & are trained to think on that level, in regards to identifying and exploiting a scalable market opportunity.

essentially, rather than using the skills/information i've learned as related to high tech funding to work on the investment side of the table by taking a job as an analyst or working with a fund, i'd rather work with startups who are too premature to get attention from investors, or who may ultimately not be interested in taking funding, to pre-engineer the way they think about running a company so that it operates on a high-growth level, but doesn't require fitting into the venture capital model.

hope that helps. feel free to ask more questions or ping me directly via www.pdxten.com.

-carolynn

Josh, thanks for your comment. That's a good comment that the interview process has a contest-feel, and I'm not sure that will be the approach we take in the future.

More than anything, we want to find candidates who are a good fit for the challenge of working toward the $1M goal, have a project that has the potential to be viable in the market, and who are a good match between the other founders we are working with and Portland Ten staff/advisors.

Thanks again for your input--

Carolynn

Thank you to everyone for your comments & suggestions on Portland Ten. Some very valid concerns & feedback were given, and I appreciate this very much, because it will help us to make Portland Ten better at being/becoming something that is useful and appropriate for the startup community.

Here are some of my thoughts and responses to specific items discussed:

http://bigpaperblog.com/2009/02/12/update-on-portland-ten

For those who are excited about the project, we appreciate the support. For those who have concerns, I appreciate your effort in letting us know, and hope that you'll continue to follow the project and help us stay on track, or make changes when necessary.